Move over tablets; here come the ultrabooks

New research shows that ultrabooks may make up half of all notebook sales by the year 2016.

New York-based GBI Research has released a study that found ultrabook sales will explode in the next five years, making up 47 per cent of annual notebook sales by 2016 despite the marketplace notion that ultrabooks are prohibitively expensive.

Related Story: Ultrabooks give channel a BYOD weapon and a chance to go deeper with customers

Currently, 1.3 million ultrabooks were sold last year, but thanks to technological advances and a drop in component prices, this number is predicted to reach a massive 148.7 million by 2016, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 109 per cent, GBI research showed.

GBI, known as a business intelligence research provider, defined ultrabooks by its thinner, lighter bodies and with a shorter boot-up time than typical notebooks. Another factor for the popularity of ultrabooks is the rise of cloud-based systems, such as Apple’s iCloud and Google’s Cloud Storage. Both public clouds have become more prevalent and have shown users that they no longer require a traditional hard drive.

GBI also said that the price reduction of microprocessors and flash memory, combined with an increase in production capacity for screens and casings, will also see a sizeable drop in the average selling price of ultrabooks, from $1,050 last year to $510 by the end of 2016.

The Americas are currently the biggest consumer of ultrabooks, according to the study, and Canadians, Americans and Latin Americans are expected to purchase 1.55 million units this year alone, accounting for 42 per cent of 2012’s global market.

However, from their research GBI expects this to change over the next five years as the Asia-Pacific region is expected to become the biggest buyer of ultrabooks in 2016, with an estimated 55 million units.

The Americas are predicted to come second with 54 million unit sales, while Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will come third with combined sales of around 40 million.

This report was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis conducted by GBI Research’s team.

Would you recommend this article?

Share

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you think of this article!
We'd love to hear your opinion about this or any other story you read in our publication.


Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

Featured Download

CDN Staff
CDN Staffhttps://channeldailynews.com
For over 25 years, CDN has been the voice of the IT channel community in Canada. Today through our digital magazine, e-mail newsletter, video reports, events and social media platforms, we provide channel partners with the information they need to grow their business.

Related Tech News

Featured Tech Jobs

 

CDN in your inbox

CDN delivers a critical analysis of the competitive landscape detailing both the challenges and opportunities facing solution providers. CDN's email newsletter details the most important news and commentary from the channel.